Texas singer in tune with her emotions

Updated 9:18 am, Wednesday, April 3, 2013

The 24-year-old Texas singer-songwriter is country's “It” girl. Her critically acclaimed major-label debut, “Same Trailer Different Park,” is filled with quiet, highly personal, scarcely produced songs. They aren't Auto-Tuned, and they're not about her latest ex-boyfriend.

Songs such as “Merry Go 'Round,” “Follow Your Arrow” and “It Is What It Is” touch on edgier themes of self-identity, sexuality, casual sex and recreational drug use, heralding an indie folk vibe in country music with influences that connect to Bob Dylan and Elvis Costello as well as Loretta Lynn.

It feels honest.

“Anything that made its way onto the record, whether it was a weird sound, a song, a picture, any of that, it never got even close to being there if it didn't feel like it was completely me or right or real,” said Musgraves, who opens for Kenny Chesney at the new Austin360 Amphitheater in Austin on Friday.

She returns to the city where she lived briefly and played solo shows out of high school at the old Momo's and Threadgill's before moving to Nashville.

FILE -- Kacey Musgraves performs at the Highline Ballroom in New York, Oct. 18, 2012. Ashley Monroe's "Like a Rose" and Musgraves's "Same Trailer Different Park" are a pair of acidic and beautiful new country albums that make sure to articulate feelings and perspectives not often heard near Nashville's center.

FILE -- Kacey Musgraves performs at the Highline Ballroom in New York, Oct. 18, 2012. Ashley Monroe's "Like a Rose" and Musgraves's "Same Trailer Different Park" are a pair of acidic and beautiful new country

This Feb. 20, 2013 photo shows Kacey Musgraves at the Barista Parlor in Nashville, Tenn. Musgraves' latest CD, "Same Trailer Different Park," was released on March 19, 2013. (Photo by Donn JonesInvision/AP)

This Feb. 20, 2013 photo shows Kacey Musgraves at the Barista Parlor in Nashville, Tenn. Musgraves' latest CD, "Same Trailer Different Park," was released on March 19, 2013. (Photo by Donn JonesInvision/AP)

Photo: Donn Jones, Associated Press

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This Feb. 20, 2013 photo shows Kacey Musgraves at the Barista Parlor in Nashville, Tenn. Musgraves' latest CD, "Same Trailer Different Park," was released on March 19, 2013. (Photo by Donn JonesInvision/AP)

This Feb. 20, 2013 photo shows Kacey Musgraves at the Barista Parlor in Nashville, Tenn. Musgraves' latest CD, "Same Trailer Different Park," was released on March 19, 2013. (Photo by Donn JonesInvision/AP)

Photo: Donn Jones, Associated Press

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Texas singer in tune with her emotions

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Musgraves hails from Golden, north of Tyler, and has been singing professionally — including in Branson — since she was very young. Like the young, similarly groomed Alanis Morissette, her poise is evident.

“I've grown up singing in every scenario you could imagine,” Musgraves said. “So it really set the stage, pun intended, for me to be comfortable in any scenario. It gave me time to really figure out who I am.”

The New York Times, Rolling Stone and NPR have raved about the often conversational debut record. The buzz is deafening — partly by design. Musgraves acknowledges that she's deep inside the Nashville star-making machine.

“It's weird,” she said. “It's awesome. It's just kind of all surreal and kind of mind-blowing. I've been preparing for it for a long time, and it's finally here. So now I'm just trying to enjoy it. I'm constantly bewildered by everything that's happening around me.”

“It kind of came out of the blue,” Musgraves said. “She decided to give me some love. I think it's really cool. I love country music and I'm a big fan, but outside of that I'm inspired by lot of other kinds of things.”

Musgraves, who confidently says she can “sit in a room with my guitar and get my point across,” says she's grateful she wasn't a Music Row teenybopper, though she was courted.

“Yeah, a lot of people, especially since Taylor Swift has come along, think that the younger that happens, the better for you,” she said. “But I kind of think the opposite. Because the older you get, the closer you are to figuring out what you are.”

Being yourself is the message of “Same Trailer Different Park.”

For a songwriter, that means a shaky love life can be helpful. And so can a still youthful spirit. Musgraves' Twitter page offers the little message, “I believe in karma. And glitter.”

Taylor Swift fans might relate to that, even if their music is worlds apart.

“I enjoy depressing songs. I like darker material, usually,” Musgraves said. “There are some, like, happier songs on the record. But I do love good ol' depressing songs, a lot of what makes up country music. Having a happy love life kind of kills the writing life, but who wants to be martyr?”